About Us: Duncan Stewart's Legacy of Excellence

Family run business in Sussex

A true family business is a rare thing. Even more rare is a family business that has survived the generations, building on its established traditions, while innovating and modernising as it seeks to future-proof the business for the generations to come. Duncan Stewart is one of those family businesses that take our history seriously, knowing that it informs everything we do going forward.

Established in 1978 in Worthing, West Sussex by Duncan himself the business is run today by his sons Andrew and Fraser Stewart.

Duncan Stewart is renowned as a supplier of premium quality personalised and branded textiles and more recently, this has expanded into homewares and gift items. We create embroidered towels, bags, bathrobes, laser engraved homewares, and bespoke items that cannot be found on the High Street.

On the business-to-business end, we work closely with a range of customers, supplying multi-national companies with branded products and corporate gifts to supplying beauty colleges and small businesses with textiles.

For consumers, our wide range of premium products are available as stand-alone items or personalised to make beautiful gifts that celebrate every occasion.

For us diversification is key, and our product range reflects this. We strive to think outside the box with our designs, to enable all of our customers to be inspired in finding that perfect gift item for someone they love.

Our legacy

Based in West Sussex, Duncan Stewart Textiles was established in 1978 by founder and namesake, Duncan, our Dad. It was in the 1980s that we (Andrew and Fraser) joined the business that was originally started in our family home in Worthing. We clearly remember how hard Dad worked to establish the business – taking over various rooms in the house and working deep into the night to establish a secure foundation for his family. It was a natural choice for us to help him when the time came.

Since then, we have gone from strength to strength. We soon moved out of our front room and as the business has grown, we now operate from a large warehouse in Worthing West Sussex. Still very much local and still a big part of our community. Just as Dad would want it. He always said that we provide more than just great quality textiles; we offer value to our customers with service that sets us apart. Standing on the strong foundation he created, we are proud to continue his legacy.

Contact us today, we would love to help you with a product, branding, or gifting inquiry. You will always find a real person on the end of the phone at Duncan Stewart and our team strives to respond to emails within one working day.

Our Mission

We strive for sustainability with a focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling. We work in collaboration with our manufacturing partners; designers; customers and employees to produce innovative, high-quality products to market whilst providing authentic customer services. We aim to engage with the community by partnering with programs that offer rehabilitation and career development to demographics at risk of long-term unemployment.

Our Values

Quality and Value
We take pride in ensuring our products are of the highest quality and value. We work with our suppliers to source the best products at fair prices, maintain rigorous quality control standards throughout our production and dispatch processes and are committed to ensuring our customers are satisfied with the end product. We recognise our reputation, and success depends on this.

Customer Service
We are committed to accountability and authenticity in everything we do. We aim to provide the best level of personal customer service - every query or issue is personally owned by the relevant team member/s through to satisfactory resolution. We believe in continuous development and improvement and not becoming complacent in serving our customers.

Growth
Duncan Stewart has succeeded for over forty years because we have adapted to change to grow. We strive to keep up with market change by listening to customer and staff feedback, as well as keeping on top of market trends.

Teamwork
As a small business, no day in the office or warehouse looks the same. The teamwork between our staff, manufacturers, service partners, and customers is core to our successful operations.  We are committed to maintaining a positive, respectful, and productive working environment for all, at all times.

Environment
As a small business, we challenge ourselves to support a sustainable world by reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible in our day-to-day operations. From the use of recycled materials in our packaging to reusing cardboard boxes and reducing the use of single-use plastic as well as maintaining recycling practices on site.

Community
As a company, we are committed to connecting with communities and providing opportunities. We work with the HMP service to provide rehabilitation opportunities for offenders and engage with Government supported programs that provide youth opportunities to develop career skills.

Social Responsibility

We are focused on doing what we can to contribute to social responsibility. We challenge our team to review how we operate in order to make more sustainable choices, from reusing and recycling plastics to working within our local community. Projects include working with HMP Ford to support the rehabilitation of offenders due for release by providing them with work experience during our peak trade times to contributing to local Food Banks. 

Working with factories in Turkey, Pakistan, India, Portugal, China, and Bangladesh we look to conduct visits to ensure that facilities follow ethical practices including no child labour, good lighting and facilities for all employees, reasonable working hours, competitive pay rates, and health & safety procedures are in place.

Testimonials

Testimonial from Tia Sylvester at Ramboll www.ramboll.co.uk

''I wanted a unique ‘useful’ birthday gift for a gentleman that’s been on the planet for over half a decade, has everything, wants for nothing, and is a real diamond to me! Whilst browsing the internet I came across Duncan Stewart Textiles who create bespoke personalised girts. Brilliant I thought, I’ll get a personalised bathrobe. I gave DST a call, followed that up with an email of the words and image I wanted. They got back to me the very next day, digitised the image, and added a lovely ‘popping’ bright blue colour and the cost was pretty good too … it came together so well I ordered two! The service was second to none: polite, patient, speedy and accommodating. He absolutely loves it … my only dilemma now is getting him out of his favourite bathrobe these days … thank you for a job well-done DST!''

Special Project with the British Olympic Association: Team GB - Rio 2016

In February 2016, the British Olympic Association contacted us looking for branded robes for Team GB for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. We worked with them to find a suitable product, within a tight budget and ensure the artwork met the standards of the TEAM GB and the International Olympic committee branding guidelines.

Testimonial from Nicola Davies at Staiano Plastic Surgery www.staianoplasticsurgery.co.uk

''Thank you so much for the bathrobes, they arrived today. They look great and the colour of our logo is just right. We really appreciate your fantastic service, taking as much time as necessary to match our required logo colour, gown size & quality. We now have exactly the product we wanted for our clients''.

Members of